


Her Life and Her Death: Sneak Peek--Life, Death, and the Trees

by magicmoon111



Series: Her Life and Her Death AU [6]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Future, History
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 15:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14937096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicmoon111/pseuds/magicmoon111
Summary: I'm sorry I've been so flaky, I've spent most of my month in Europe, surrounded by relatives with little free time. I hope to get the next chapter out soon and answer the comments from 39 sooner. As always, thanks to everyone who's sticking with this story :DHere's a little peek at the main plot.Edit: Just realized I had this in notes by accident!





	Her Life and Her Death: Sneak Peek--Life, Death, and the Trees

“You created them,” he breathed, shocked. “You—you put something…” he touched his chest, remembering the vision of black crystal being forced inside the chest of a long-dead man.

Leaf’s response was dipped with melancholy. “We had no choice. The First Men—they were killing us. _Destroying_ everything we loved. We could not fight them. We are not warriors. Our magic is not for bloodshed.” She dug her small fingers into the cold earth. “We were dying and our holy trees were burning. We had no choice,” she whispered again. The regret was painfully evident. “We stole your greatest warriors and _remade_ them.”

He stared at her, horrified by the revelation. The Children truly had the power to-to make someone _Other_? Bestow the power to raise the _dead_? His mind rebelled at the idea—his body responded with nausea.

Admittedly, as he scanned her tiny, thin body, he understood why the Children would need such a force on their side. Leaf looked as if she would blow away in a strong wind. Had the First Men been so monstrous, that they’d forced the Children to create something so much  _worse_?

 _The Others’ hatred of humans suddenly makes sense, if they were created for the sole purpose of_ killing _us._

He shook his head, mourning the mistakes of his ancestors. “So, something when wrong when you created them? Is that how the wars between us ended? A common enemy?” He could see it, from a strategic point of view. The reemergence of the Others were uniting long-rivaling Houses; it stood to reason they could do the same for two different species.

The living would always side against the dead.

But Leaf slowly shook her head. “No. We created them four thousand years before the Long Night. We used them in the war against your people. They were empty shells animated by magic,” she murmured, her lyrical voice sad enough to wound. “Puppets that the elders could control from afar. Terrible creatures wounded only by the glass that Made them; their weakness was our biggest secret. One of them was enough to end a whole _army_ of humans. If it fell, then we could simply make another. No more of our lives were lost.”

He stared at her, nonplused as all his theories unraveled.

She looked up, anguished. “We were so few left. _So few_. We bought our survival with blood. The Pact was formed: Men kept to the open lands, we kept to the forests. Eventually, our gods became yours. Harmony. _Four thousand years_ without conflict.”

“But…then how? What happened?” How were the Others now independent entities?

She shook her head. “We don’t know. We sent them all to the farthest north, entombed them in ice, and then forgot about them. They were insurance in case of another war, a warning so the Pact would never be broken. Eventually, they were all but forgotten by man. But then…” Her gaze grew haunted. “We sent many humans and children to their tomb, during and after the Long Night, seeking the answer. None ever returned. Their songs simply _stopped_.” She gazed at him, disturbed. “Even _death_ does not steal a song.”

Leaf had told him she was young for their people, having been born early in the reign of the Dragons. Yet she spoke as if she’d been there, seen and heard this with her own eyes. The Children had no written language to record their history, but hearing her speak, he suspected it was because they didn’t _need_ one.

“The first years-long winter was heralded by their coming,” she continued, eyes hazy as she stared unseeingly over his shoulder. “But they were _not_ the same things we’d created _._  Their skin was blue and brittle, their breath was cold enough to extinguish flame. Their armor and weapons were of impenetrable ice. Their strength was the same, their weakness too, but they were no longer _ours_.” She met his eyes, and the next words were a whisper. "Yet somehow, their gaze is _aware._ "

_A puppet needs a master._

“The children have no dominion over death, small human.” She swallowed, and her body shook. “ _We_ gave them no such power.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leaf here said that only dragonglass can kill a Walker, which isn't correct. Valyrian Steel can as well, but Leaf doesn't know that since the Others went dormant long before the Valyrian Freehold was created. Why Valyrian steel can kill them is a plot point >:D
> 
> I promise I'm not teasing by not revealing the name of the person who's talking with Leaf, it's just this is in the far future and I've yet to decide which of 4 candidates to choose from, hence giving the person little personality. As with the other snippets, this whole scene will likely be revised later but the core will remain :)


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